164 Balochistan coal miners killed in one year

ISLAMABAD: As many as 164 labourers working in coal mines have lost their lives and 300 more were facing serious injuries during the last one year in various mines of Balochistan.

In most of the incidents, labourers were digging 300 feet deep in coal mines where they reportedly suffocated to death owing to lack of oxygen, President of All Pakistan Labour Federation, Sultan Muhammad Khan told APP on Wednesday.

He said about 0.3 million labourers were employed across the province as each site consists of more than 1,000 mines including Chamalang, Luni, Harnai, Mach, Duki, Marwar and Low range area of the province.

Sultan said around 33 cases of death and 70 cases of injuries had been reported during this year in the province due to negligence of the authorities concerned.

He said the main reason of the deaths in the mines was the lack of oxygen and explosion due to methane gas.

He urged the governments to take the issue more seriously and make efforts to implement the law for overcoming coal mine incidents.

He said the government was collecting a lot of revenue from coal mining and the laborers were being compensated with Rs. 200,000 of death grant, which should be increased to 500,000 per person.

Sultan said most of the labourers working in the field were facing dangerous diseases including kidney, asthma and lever problems.

He said the main reason behind their diseases was absence of clean drinking water and basic health facilities. The government should implement Occupational Safety and Health Situation (OSHS) to overcome the accidents which occurs in coal mining.